Column: Ways to manage anxiety

Dr Tom Ferraro

Anxiety is a very common psychological symptom and as our stress levels rise so does our felt anxiety. A flood of information and constant news of mass shootings and terrorism engenders anxiety. 

Years ago anxiety was felt by adults but now we see anxiety in children as well. Adults  compete for jobs and money but kids must now also compete for medals, grades  and scholarships. 

Symptoms of anxiety include phobias, nausea, palpitations, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, feeling of choking, chest pain, dizziness, lightheadedness, derealization, fear of dying, numbness and chills. 

These symptoms are distressing and also produce fatigue, social withdrawal and procrastination.

As a psychoanalyst the patients I treat are usually aware that the process of psychotherapy takes time and over the course of the therapy these anxiety symptoms usually subside as the patient gains insight into their inner doubts and as they slowly make the necessary life style changes.

Athletes are taught to control their anxiety thoughts by grounding themselves through the observation of nature (Photo provided by Tom Ferraro)

But very often when I am asked to treat an elite or professional athlete who suffers from anxiety they are in need of  a more swift cure  since their  anxiety seriously impacts their performance and  can even lead to the end of a promising career. 

With elite athletes, tranquilizers are often ruled out because they will produce side effects which will impact performance  negatively.

In these cases I will often employ a host of behavioral techniques which can have a short-term effect on anxiety and help the athlete to suppress the symptoms until a more long term solution can be arrived at.

The following techniques are some of what I use:

1)  Deep Breathing techniques. This method is especially useful for the athlete the night before an event. Sleeplessness is very common before big games and to help the athlete to fall off to sleep quickly I teach them a simple method which consists of counting to four on the in breath and counting to four on the out breath.

When they get good at this I simply ask them to follow their in breath and their out breath and when they have an interrupting thought of any kind just cay “Cancel it” and go back to following your breathing.

This method works better than a tranquilizer and has none of the nasty side effects like drowsiness the next day.

2) Power Pose:  A researcher by the name of George Kelly discovered that if you have a person act or stand a certain way they will often feel less anxious and more powerful. I have taught many athletes this little secret and  it helps.

If a golfer is feeling down after a bad shot I tell them to walk with head up and shoulders back and it produces a feeling of calm confidence. If a tennis player is mad at himself for losing  a point he can applaud the opponent for making a good shot and thereby showing confidence and  a good attitude which helps him to feel better.

If you have trouble getting nervous when giving an acceptance speech a good tip is to stand tall with shoulders back, look squarely at someone in the audience and speak loudly and clearly.

This inhibits anxiety almost immediately.

3) Ground yourself:  Anxiety is produced by both conscious and unconscious thoughts that the athlete is dwelling upon. In order to suppress them you must take yourself out of your head by looking outward at something in front of you.

Golfers are taught to look at clouds, the color of the trees or the sound of the wind.  This relaxes them and gets them away from their  anxious thoughts.

This strategy is used by dentists when they are giving you an injection. They are taught to grab and gently wiggle the patients cheek in order to distract them from the needle prick. For anyone who has a fear of any type of surgical procedure you can do the same thing by looking at a spot on the wall and concentrating on it as the procedure is performed.

All these things are a form of grounding which distracts you and takes you way from your fears. 

4) Carrying a special object:  This kind of technique has been used for centuries.

Things like a rabbits foot, a religious symbol like a cross or a star, or a ring can be referred to in times of anxiety.

My favorite story about this was told to me by one of my patients who knew Sammy Davis Jr. the famous singer. and member of the Rat Pack back in the 1960s.

He was often asked onto the Johnny Carson Show and as he stood behind the curtain as he was about to come on stage he would allay his anxiety by looking down at his ring, kiss it and say to himself “I’m a star, I’m a star, I’m a star.”

This ritual served to settle him down and remind him of his talent. I like this technique and will sometimes ask some of my more famous star athletes to do the same prior to entering the arena.

These are but a few of the behavioral techniques that I use to help my athletes  temporarily suppress anxiety that is flooding them. You may want to try one or two yourself.

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